Suluk Academy - Naubahar Class of 2020 Information

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THE SULUK ACADEMY NAUBAHAR CLASS OF 2020

Please see below for a variety of details specific to Suluk North America’s Naubahar Class of 2020. If you have additional questions, please email suluk@inayatiorder.org.

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Over the course of two years, students, called Salik(a)s, deeply explore the fundamentals of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s school of Sufism under the rubric of Concentration, Contemplation, Meditation, and Realization.

Among the topics of study are the purification of body and mind, prayer, breath, the elements, light, the inner senses, the Chivalric Rules, the God Ideal, the Divine Names, the subtle centers, and the Spirit of Guidance.

A direct transmission is shared through a mix of practice, lecture, suhbat, and zikr, held within a container of spiritual companionship.

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Pir Zia Inayat-Khan

Suluk Academy is taught by Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat Khan and current lineage carrier in the Inayati Order. He is often assisted and accompanied by additional Inayati teachers.

Pir Zia, familiarly known as Sarafil Bawa, is a noted teacher of Sufism. His teaching is informed by decades of immersion in the mystical legacy of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, focused scholarly research in religion, and wide transreligious spiritual engagement.

Pir Zia holds a Ph.D. in religion from Duke University and is the author of several books, including Saracen Chivalry: Counsels on Valor, Generosity and the Mystical Quest (2012) and Mingled Waters: Sufism & the Mystical Unity of Religions (2017). For additional details on Pir Zia’s life story, please visit: http://www.pirzia.org/bio/

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North American Mentors

Ayeda Nizam un Nisa Husain

Ayeda Nizam un Nisa Husain is a Shaykha, Guide and Representative in the Inayati Order where she uses the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan to explain the poetry of Rumi, focusing on Sufism as a means of healing and evolving. A student of classical Chishti Sufism since 1988 and a devoted follower of the Inayati Order since 2004, she has led Inayati Order centers in Lahore, in Dubai and now in Oakville, Ontario where she lives.

A graduate of the first European Suluk class and a Knight of Purity, Nizam-un-Nisa has led Sufi retreats, taught Sufi meditation to Buddhist monks in Tokyo and been invited to the UN as part of an international delegation of spiritual leaders. A journalist by profession, she is currently working on setting the Urdu poetry of Hazrat Inayat Khan to music.

Nirtana Gloria Deckro

Nirtana Gloria Deckro has been a traveler on the Sufi path for 35 years. She graduated Suluk in 2007 and then served as a mentor for the Alif and Andalib classes. Nirtana trained as a physician in England. After moving to Boston in 1982, marrying and starting a family, she spent eight years as Director of Training and Research for the Education Initiative of the Mind/Body Medical Institute. There she focused on training educators and health professionals in bringing meditation into work settings.

Nirtana then built her own healing practice, offering meditation training and spiritual counseling for individuals and groups. Nirtana served on the Board of the Inayati Order from 2007 to 2011 and as Executive Director of the Order from 2011 to 2014. She currently lives with her husband in Sharon MA. They have two adult children.

Naima Brown

Naima Brown serves as the Vice president of the Esoteric school of the Inayati Order. She is a founding mentor in Suluk Academy and participates in its steering committee. Having recently collaborated in updating the leadership curriculum of the Esoteric school, she oversees the program for Coordinators, Representatives and Guides in training.

She teaches Leadership training modules and Esoteric classes. She is a Retreat guide and offers individual and group retreats, in person and online. She and her husband Aqil offer classes and are part of the leadership team in the Boston and New England area.

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Suluk meets over the course of two years, four times a year with five days per session. This is a total of eight in-person sessions and 40 days of study. Dates for the current North American class are:

Concentration

Tuesday, September 11 – Sunday, September 16, 2018
Tuesday, December 4 – Sunday, December 9, 2018

Contemplation

Tuesday, March 5 – Sunday, March 10, 2019
Friday, June 7 – Wednesday, June 12, 2019 (begins on a Fri due to Ramadan)

Meditation

Tuesday, September 10 – Sunday, September 15, 2019
Tuesday, December 3 – Sunday, December 8, 2019

Realization

Tuesday, March 3 – Sunday, March 8, 2020
Tuesday, June 2 – Sunday, June 7, 2020

All sessions arrive the first day in time for the program to begin at 7 pm. Departures are the last day after 12:30 pm. There is homework between sessions including reading and writing assignments, possible Zoom calls with one’s mentor group, and also a requirement to participate in a three-day, individual Suluk Retreat.

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9:30 am Sitting Meditation
9:50 am Announcements
10:00 am Sarafil Bawa
11:15 am Tea Break
11:45 am Sarafil Bawa
1:00 pm Lunch
3:30 pm Mentor Groups*
5:00 pm Tea Break
5:30 pm Pods**
6:30 pm Community Dinner & Evening Program

*Mentor Groups are small groups of 10-12 people, led by a mentor, that Salik(a)s belong to throughout the course of the program. These groups are meant to provide a home base as one processes and assimilate the teachings.

**Pods are smaller, self-guided groups, involving 5-6 people from each Mentor Group. Pod mates support one another as spiritual friends throughout the program.

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Suluk Academy has locations in the United States and Europe. North American classes are held at the Astana, the new headquarters of the Inayati Order in Richmond, Virginia.

While the Astana offers contemplative meeting space for up to 40 participants, we do not provide housing. Our Astana Web page provides details on housing options within a block or two of the Astana, as well as travel information, recommended restaurants, and other helpful resources.

Google Maps: 112 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219

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Tuition for the full program is $5,400 and can be paid quarterly or annually ($675 a session or $2,700/year), with an initial first session deposit of $675 to guarantee your participation.

This includes all teachings, mentoring during and between sessions, five community meals and refreshments throughout each session, and the logistical support necessary to run the program.

Salik(a)s are responsible for their own travel, housing, and select meals (breakfast each day and at least five lunches or dinners per session), and should anticipate paying for a required three-day Suluk Retreat ($45-$125/day), and books assigned for reading assignments ($50-$100).

Expenses may be reasonably reduced by sharing – books, travel, housing, meals, and anything else that is needed.

Partial scholarships are available and can be requested as part of the application process. We invite all Salik(a)s and close friends to donate to the Suluk Scholarship Fund, via the Donate page of our website, selecting this option on the “Gift Choices” drop-down menu.

Our goal is to make Inayati Order programs accessible to all sincere seekers taking the steps necessary to enter and participate in a given program. Please always inquire about scholarship or work exchange opportunities.

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Suluk Academy is designed for initiates within the Inayati Order, as well as devoted students of sister groups with membership in the Federation of the Sufi Message. If you are a student within the Inayati Order, it is highly recommended that you do the Suluk program sometime during the course of your Sufi studies.

If you are interested in applying for a future class of Suluk Academy, please share your information with us below. Upon receipt of your information, we will send additional details and a link to the application once its ready.

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Sufis, instead of teaching the lesson of indifference, have taught the lesson of love and sympathy, and have called it the cultivation of the heart. In Sufi terminology, this is called Suluk, which means the divine manner, the loving manner. When a refined manner is directed by the heart quality, it becomes a loving manner, the manner of God, and all such attributes as gentleness, tolerance, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion spring from it. The great teachers and prophets did not become what they were by their miracles, their wonder-workings; what was most apparent in them was the loving manner. – Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sufi Message Volume VIII (original edition) on “The Heart.”

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